NOVEMBER 29, 2005

For the last three years, WWC worked on two public policy tools to help save and secure important commercial fishing access properties. The following two questions appeared on Maine's November 8, 2005 ballot:

Question 5:
Do you favor a $12,000,000 bond issue to purchase land and conservation easements statewide from willing sellers for conservation, water access, wildlife and fish habitat, outdoor recreation, including hunting and fishing, farmland preservation and working waterfront preservation to be matched by at least $7,000,000 in private and public contributions?"

Question 5 was a bond question for $12 million to purchase land and conservation easements on properties statewide. $2 million of this bond will be used to invest in significantly important working waterfront properties along the Maine coast. This new program, officially called the “Working Waterfront Access Protection Pilot Program” will be administered by the Maine Department of Marine Resources and the Land For Maine’s Future Board of Directors.

Maine Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program. In a joint partnership, CEI and the Island Institute were awarded a contract to provide Program Management Services to the Maine Department of Marine Resources for the program. This involves working with commercial fishing businesses located on the waterfront that want to secure and preserve access in their community for future generations.  Businesses will be encouraged to submit their applications to CEI and the Island Institute for feedback and help addressing the program criteria. Applying for the funds will involve a competitive scoring process conducted by an industry review panel. The program requires a 1:1 dollar match of funds, and the businesses must meet the program criteria (below is a list of the core program selection criteria). Also important to note is that any grant made under the program has a requirement that the protected property may not be used, altered or developed in a manner that precludes its use by commercial fisheries businesses. The owner of the property must agree to enter the property into a conservation easement, access easement and/or other permanent interests in the land. The ultimate goal is to stimulate long-term preservation of Maine's working waterfront. More information about applying for this program can be found on the program website. http://www.wwapp.org/

Preliminary list of program selection criteria:

A. The economic significance of the property to the commercial fisheries industry in the immediate vicinity and in the State as a whole;

B. The availability of alternative working waterfront properties in the same vicinity;

C. The degree of community support for the proposed investment;

D. The level of threat of conversion to uses incompatible with commercial fisheries businesses; and

E. The utility of the proposed protected property for commercial fisheries business uses in terms of its natural characteristics and developed infrastructure.

Question 7:
"Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to permit the Legislature to authorize waterfront land used for commercial fishing activities to be assessed based on the land's current use in a manner similar to treatment now available for farms, open space and forestland?"

Question 7 is a Constitutional Amendment that would allow working waterfront property owners to opt in to have their property taxes based upon the current use of the property, a rate that would be lower than the current valuation method of "highest and best use". This provides a way for fishing families to hold onto their waterfront property and not sell off to another use. This bill (LD 1972) is currently before the Maine Legislature’s Taxation Committee where they are working on the program eligibility conditions, the methods to assess current use valuation, state and municipal roles in the program, method of withdrawal and penalties for withdrawal from the program, and an appeal process. The Taxation Committee is expected to report out soon and more details about the outcome will be posted here in the future.

We had victory on both KEY WATERFRONT QUESTIONS. The Constitutional Amendment won 72% to 28%, a very strong measure of WWC's and the campaign's work during the last three years. In 2000, we lost 49.60 % to 50.5% on the same question. We are also happy to report strong passage of the Land For Maine's Future Bond Bill, which includes the $2 million pilot for working waterfront! (66% to 34%). We anticipate that this will spur local waterfront preservation in the coming years.

If you have questions about Coastal Enterprises, Inc., please call Hugh Cowperthwaite at 772-5356 ext. 120 or , www.ceimaine.org